Slow Cooker Lasagna

Every time I use my crockpot I think, "why do I not use this thing everyday?"  It's so hard at 5 o'clock to get dinner made with a screaming toddler attached to your leg!!  I love crockpot recipes that are just ready to toss in without much work, and this is one of them!!  It's so easy to make, and I love the smell of it cooking all afternoon.  


First, brown your meat in a skillet and drain.  Add a jar of spaghetti sauce and one cup of water.  I stock up on ground beef when it's on sale and go ahead and brown a bunch of it and keep it in one pound packs in my freezer.  Then, when it's time to make a recipe like this one, I just pull it out and thaw it. So, in my case, I put my beef, sauce and water into a bowl and mix. Set aside.

Then, in a separate bowl combine your ricotta cheese, one and a half cups of your Italian Cheese, two tablespoons parmesan, egg, and fresh parsley.  

It doesn't have to be fresh parsley....but I love pulling fresh parsley from my garden!  Plus, it just makes it that much better!  

Now, you're ready to assemble.  Put one cup of sauce into your crockpot.  Lay out 3 of your lasagna noodles, broken to fit.  

Top this with half of your cheese mixture and spread out.  Don't worry about spreading it perfectly, because it will all melt together.  Then, top with two cups of sauce.  

Top with remaining noodles; then the rest of your cheese mixture and sauce on top.  Cover with lid.  Cook on low 4-6 hours until liquid is gone.  After it's cooked, top with remaining Italian Cheese and let it stand for ten minutes for it to melt.  I added a little Parmesan cheese on the top this time while its cooking.

I usually serve this with some crusty bread and a big salad!  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!  I usually try to keep most of the ingredients on hand since it's so easy to throw together when I'm out of ideas!!






Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef (could be substituted for Italian sausage)
1 (24 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
1 (15 oz) container of ricotta cheese (can use skim ricotta)
1 pkg. Kraft Italian Cheese (approx. 2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
6 regular lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions:

Brown meat in large skillet; drain.  Stir in spaghetti sauce and water.  

In separate bowl, mix ricotta, 1-1/2 cups Kraft Italian cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, egg and parsley.

Spoon 1 cup meat sauce into slow cooker; top with 3 lasagna noodles, broken to fit; and half of cheese mixture.  Cover with 2 cups meat sauce.  Top with remaining noodles, broken to fit; cheese mixture and meat sauce.  Cover with lid.

Cook on low 4-6 hours or until liquid is absorbed.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese; let stand, covered, 10 min. or until melted.


Recipe from SixSistersStuff